The Power of Forgiveness

And if you are computer illiterate, don't worry, hate speech will find a way to you via multiple ways ranging from TV, books, or even mosques. The sad part is that over time we, the silent majority, start to condone acts of violence and hate speech by simply not condemning them. We share some responsibility by standing unresponsive to heinous acts carried out under the name of a religion we all assume to adhere to.

This unfortunate position of being hateful and passive is powerfully expressed in the lines of a story entitled City of Wrong by Egyptian writer Mohammad Kamel Hussein when the latter commented on the last moment of Christianity’s Jesus as he was demandingly dragged to the Cross in front of onlookers who showed no sympathy nor condemnation of what he endured. Known in Egypt as Father of Orthopedics, Dr. Hussein described this moment of hate and passiveness as” the individual’s conscience does not prevent the group from committing the greatest sin as long as it is committed on behalf of the group. And conscience alone is the one that distract people from evil, and since the groups do not have a conscience, it does not bother any individual of the group to what the group might commit no matter how serious is the sin”.

My article here, as we witness tragic consequences of hate, is meant to provide my own understanding of the problem in question-hate and passiveness- with a realistic alternative to those who emptied their hearts of love and filled it with hatred instead.

About three years ago, I took an International Law class with a gentleman named Luis Furmanski whose lectures were interesting and insightful, but one lecture that I will never forget was in fact a case study about Apartheid trials in South Africa. That day when we, students, were all engaged in showing the professor how we digested the class materials by putting into practice our understanding of the International Law articles, some of us even competed to come up with the harshest punishments for those white folks who were accused of crimes against humanity. After listening to all our interpretations of the law,  the professor, standing behind the podium, said: All what you concluded is true as far as applying International Law, but listen to what Desmond Tutu had to say to those aggressors ” Our Lord would say that in the end the positive thing that can come is the spirit of forgiving. Not forgetting, but the spirit of saying, “God, this happened to us. We pray for those who made it happen, help us to forgive them and help us so that we in our turn will not make others suffer”

Tutu’s inspiring and powerful words still resonate within my heart and soul since then. His   words should get us to realize the importance of forgiveness in our society. We, sadly, were brought up in an atmosphere where vengeance and hate are recommended weapons to deal with our daily challenges. We, parents, never cease to indoctrinate our little ones with the- eye- for-an-eye principle. Forgiveness in this hostile society has been synonymous with defeatism. But the fact is that having a heart eaten up by a raging hatred is another form of defeatism, for you let your heart be conquered by a foreign and destructive vice called hate.

The bottom line is the outcome of the two options: Forgiveness brings about a peaceful state of mind, emotional healing and a sensation of superiority to the inner state of conflict between good and evil. Hatred, on the other hand, breeds only more hate and violence. It not only impairs our vision to see the good things in life, but it places us no further from being beasts.


The pervasiveness of turmoil is so overwhelming that you cannot even comprehend or keep up with. Historically speaking, the moments of peace are longer than those of drums of war. Each time through our collectively human experience, moments of peace are seeds of a message based on love, tolerance and forgiveness delivered by exceptional people. One name that stands out among many was the prophet Muhammad who was committed to bringing peace and forgiveness to a then warring region. His message of forgiveness was manifested in his famous statement as he returned to his beloved city Mecca after years of exile in the neighboring city of Medina. Entering Mecca victorious, he told his enemies” Go, for you are free” after they had cast him out.


Mourad Anouar